Unlike, say, the gospel of mark, where jesus is portrayed as pretty human and separate from god. Throughout the book of revelation, we can see god s benevolence in providing for and protecting his people. The bible is full of about 20 major themes and another 5070 smaller. May, 2015 god s glory will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea habakkuk 2. A spiritual and saving knowledge of god is the greatest need of every human creature. Our first psalm is a familiar one, a psalm that has spawned dozens of hymns and choruses. That the god of our lord jesus christ, the father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him eph. The song of verse 11 further explains that god created all things and sustains all things for his pleasure. God is sovereignly working out his grand plan of redemption for the glory of his name, through all events that happen. He is author of more than 50 books, including desiring god. At the heart of christian ethics is the conviction that our firm basis for knowing the true, the good, and the right is divine revelation. God is actually so good that he is the source of goodness. Suffering is used in revelation to produce sanctification.
After pipers desiring god, i somewhat dreaded this book, but i was happily surprised and challenged. Ungodly people who know something called the truth suppress it. The revelation of jesus christ, which god gave him to show to his bondservants, the things which must shortly take place. Redemption signifies the freedom and liberation from sin through jesus christ, finding its precedent in god s liberation of his people from egypt. Nov 05, 2012 it is god, not the evil one, who sits on the throne, and it is god who judges his enemies and blesses those who faithfully follow the lamb of god. The beast, the book, and the beauty of the lamb desiring god. Paper 3 the attributes of god urantia book urantia. Unfortunately, pipers lack of obedience to god s word in 1 corinthians 15. Therefore, this great multitude of people belongs to god. The seven seals are the first series of gods judgments during this time, and they are described in revelation 6.
For example, a second type of perseverance mentioned in revelation is steadfast love for god. This just means that the book sees god and jesus as being equal in divinity and awesomeness. God is infinite he is selfexisting, without origin. He is perfect the rock, his work is perfect, for all. God s communicable attributes, such as love and wisdom, find their fullest expression in him but can also be displayed on a smaller scale by his human imagebearers. Jan 17, 2012 there is no reason to make the 144,000 any more restricted than that. Because he is the creator, he is the only one who exists outside of the created order. Can the regenerate be erased from the book of life. God pours out suffering in such a way as to demonstrate his mercy. My heart burned with a longing for god i had never felt before. It was a couple of weeks ago that i managed to give an introduction to a message to you, and never got to the message.
Unlike everything else in the entire universe, he had no beginning. Jan 02, 2020 there are at least three possible interpretations of the seven spirits of god. God to transmit and preserve his revelation to the world, he chose a book. This term summarizes all the attributes that make god who he is. John piper on hearing the voice of god the christian post. One of the joys of the believer is to revel in the strong, solid character of our unchanging father.
The pleasures of god by john piper is clearly one of them. But he rules in the local universes in the persons of his paradise creator sons, even as he bestows life through these sons. God s attributes are not independent of one another but are interconnected. Doug concurred with the partialpreterist view that the book of revelation was. Analysis revelation says that the redeemed bear a seal on their foreheads. It is by yielded ness, submission and diligent study that god s word takes root in our hearts. The author of revelation teaches his readers a lot about how to worship god now in light of how we will worship him in the future. Theology of suffering and victory from the book of revelation. God s kingdom of light has overcome the kingdom of darkness.
The wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth romans 1. Wisdom and revelation by the spirit reformed bible studies. The attributes of god, as revealed in the bible, are crucial to understanding the truth about god, who he is, what he does, and what he is like. In this book we see multiple examples of god at work, often in seemingly minor and personal matters. Second, my pastors helped me understand the nature and character of god, using the bible. Lets turn to the strangest book in the bible, the book of revelation. Nothing that exists came into being on its own, and no process such as evolution created anything. The seal consists of the names of god and the lamb and shows that the. But in the end, through these small acts of providence, god. It is a book for the serious of heart and desiring to draw closer to god and reap the benefits of communion and a greater anointing.
The expression, holy spirit, is never used in the book of revelation. If that is the meaning of the seven in the seven spirits, then it is not referring to seven different spirits of god, but rather the perfect and complete holy spirit. The book of isaiah declares, for thus says the lord, who created the heavens he is god. Now, that is probably the most important contextual clue to the solution. Tozer holds nothing back in his straightforward way of revealing how sin, self, and pride are stumbling blocks preventing true union with god. He alone is the rule and measure of what we truly know to be good. Mar 31, 2021 god is thrice holy righteous, omnipotent, eternal, set apart. The book of revelation gives us four great images of joy in god.
Bill bright says before he spoke the first work of creation, time did not exist. Pink18861952 will help the mature christian gain a greater comprehension of the magnificent attributes god has and how they are exemplified toward us, his beloved. How are gods attributes clearly perceived by everyone. God is not good because it is attractive for him to be so, nor does he follow after some sort of standard for goodness. Clearly the creator of the universe has the power to wipe his creation away instantaneously. The bible, and especially the book of revelation, uses the number 7 to refer to perfection and completion. The book of revelation has, like many letters, a prologue 1. Why i no longer follow john piper or desiring god ministry. God wrote a book that changes all other books desiring god. Posts about john piper written by adam maarschalk, dave o minnesota, and rod o.
Christians grasp the essential biblical truth that the lord himself is chief. Stephen charnocks the attributes of god sat on my beside table for. Scripture is the written form of special revelation, providing god s people with an enduring witness to the work of god in christ. Scripture as divine revelation the gospel coalition. Jesus purchased victory for gods people on the cross, and rose again so that his victory could be applied to all god s faithful people. The lord re sponded by telling moses that mortal man cannot see god in the fullness of. For 33 years, he served as pastor of bethlehem baptist church, minneapolis, minnesota. As the reader focuses in on gods attributes in the book of jonah, the short. The book of revelation calls all believers to keep their love for god alive and strong. God s incommunicable attributes, such as immutability and omniscience, belong to him alone.
John piper, founder of desiring god and chancellor of bethlehem college and seminary, speaks from the book of revelation at the passion 2016 conference sunday morning, january 3, 2016, in duluth, georgia. The new testament book of revelation picks up this idea several times in its. One of the most interesting aspects of the four living creatures is that they demonstrate that jesus, the lamb of god, is equal to god himself. Sproul explains the importance of properly dating the. Wisdom and revelation by the spirit reformed bible. There is no clear scripture that declares god will never speak in these ways. Gods glorious persona revelation that would sustain and en courage moses, enabling him to carryon as israels leader. What, then, does the bible tell us is gods ultimate aim for all that exists and thus the framework. But there is one question that seems to be overlooked in our search for signs of the endtimes. In the book of revelation, john describes the vision god gave him of this future period. Desiring god see pipers online book beyond the bounds in which he confronts t. Theology of the glory of god from the book of revelation. While fully comprehending who god is impossible for us as limited beings, god does make himself known in a variety of ways, and through what he reveals about himself in his word and in his creation, we can begin to wrap our minds around our awesome creator and god.
One of god s primary attributes is that of creator of all things genesis 1. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his son heb. The seal consists of the names of god and the lamb and shows that the redeemed belong to god revelation 14. Hurting people need to know the character of god desiring god. The attributes of god include eternality, goodness, grace, holiness, immanence, immutability, justice, love, mercy, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience. The attributes of god with study questions kindle edition. Nov 18, 2012 chapters 4 and 5 are central to the book of revelation as they show the sovereign hand of the god, the only one worthy to bring both judgment upon sin and the fulfillment of redemption. Pastor john describes seven ways books have shaped him personally. Passion conference in 2006 gospel singer tamela mann debuted a powerful single called speak lord in which she urged god to speak to her with a word to address her need. If god is in control, why is evil allowed to endure.
In all ages, god s people cry out, how long, o lord. In response to the worship of the four living creatures, the twentyfour elders cast their crowns before god s throne in agreement revelation 4. Revelation and christian ethics ligonier ministries. Attributes of god the eternity of god by dr s lewis johnson recommended resource. One of the most intrinsic attributes of god is his goodness. The book of revelation describes the people of god as sealed by god. Within all three elements there is an overwhelmingly large emphasis given to the praise and glory of god.
Oct 07, 2014 certainly, god is done speaking in the sense of adding to the revelation of scripture cf. The lord re sponded by telling moses that mortal man cannot see god in the fullness of his divine glory and still survive the experience v. He created time as a temporary context for his creation. Without question, the book of revelation is difficult to understand. Questions about the antichrist, the millennium, and many others a are sharply disputed among bible teachers today. John declared the book of revelation to be the word of god. Apr 28, 2016 beyond question, the clearest revelation of god and his will for men and women has been through jesus christ. For the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy. There will be no more death, no more suffering, no more crying, no more pain, for the old order will have passed away revelation 21.
Special revelation, on the other hand, is specific in its content and omnipotent in its effect. The book of revelation is a letter written to encourage followers of christ to focus their faith on the triumph of a sover eign gods r eign, which has now been disclosed through the exaltation and reign of christ. God himself will wipe every tear from the eyes of his children. If you are a servant of the living god, you are one of the 144,000 mentioned here. The names babel and babylon render the same hebrew word, babel. God gave us the book of revelation to tell us not only about the. The three psalms in this chapter explore the nature and attributes of our god. In his vision john sees an angel searching for someone who is worthy to open a scroll that will commence judgment on the world.
Jul 01, 2008 god has caused an alwaysness to be evident in the created order, and people connect this alwaysness with the idea of a personal god. God s perfect way discusses his faithfulness to those who put their trust in him the author and perfecter of our faith. Oct, 2010 god s gift and god s power cannot be separated from one another. Meditations of a christian hedonist and most recently providence. But moses asked for more than god was willing to grant. The uniqueness and authority of jesus christ hebrews 1. Christianity is not a life system that operates on the basis of speculative reason or pragmatic expediency. We assert boldly that god has revealed to us who he is, who we are, and how we are expected to relate to him.
Theology of redemption from the book of revelation. Worthy are you, our lord and god, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. In revelation, jesus also has a special saving role to play in the world as the son of god. As we continue to examine the seven seals that john describes in the second cycle of the book of revelation, god s word invites us to wrestle with challenging questions.
Ive often said to people, if i were on a desert island and could have only three books, in addition to the bible, id choose desiring god and the pleasures of god by john piper. As dennis johnson writes, revelation shows us that those who dwell with god in heaven constantly break forth in song, overwhelmed with joy and adoration by his perfections in himself and by his awesome achievements in creation and redemption triumph of the lamb, 330. Jun 15, 2010 so, you have god the father, who is described as being there, god the son, who i think is probably the star of the show in the book of revelation, and then the holy spirit. At the present time, the church experiences that victory in part. How are we to conceive of and classify the attributes of god. The four living creatures in revelation who are they. In revelation, the phrase servants of god always refers to all of god s redeemed people, not just an ethnic jewish remnant see 1. The existence of god is clearly attested in scripture, is. This is a wonderful book which could easily be read as full of cliches, but if you actually stop to take the cliches seriously, it gets deep and very uncliched very fast.
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